Dad creates app that locks kids phones until they respond to parents texts.

16 May 2019

Parents can send scheduled messages too.

Its 2019, which means that kids are no longer using Nokia 3310's that allow them to only send text messages, make phone calls and play snake.

This is the era of the smartphone, meaning that kids have access to a whole lot more, which can be pretty worrying for parents.

One Dad, by the name of Nick Herbert was having difficulty getting his son to respond to him, because he was so caught up in all the other aspects of his phone, so he decided to create the RespondASAP app.

The app works by locking a child's phone until they reply to their parents, so each time they recieve a text from certain numbers, they will not be able to continue using their phone until they respond to the number.

According to Distractify.com Herbert said: “Because the phone was ‘smart,’ he could play games and watch videos on it. So invariably he keeps his phone on silent so I wouldn’t know. When I try and contact him, he rarely answers, either because he doesn’t hear the phone or because he may be embarrassed to speak to his dad in front of his friends."

“There are messaging apps that tell you when a message is delivered and seen, but the point is the message can be ignored or not seen because he didn’t hear it,” Herbert explained. “So ReplyASAP is my solution to this problem.”

The app allows a parent to send or schedule messages, and makes messages audible even if the phone is on silent. That noise will continue until the message is acknowledged. The app will also display on their phone over what ever they are doing, blocking the phone until the child replies. It even gives the sender the recipient's location.